subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
of
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
s that includes the
vole
Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...
s,
lemming
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also inclu ...
s, and
muskrat
The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America.
The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...
s. They are most closely related to the other subfamilies in the
Cricetidae
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family ...
(comprising the
hamster
Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...
s and
New World rats and mice
The New World rats and mice are a group of related rodents found in North and South America. They are extremely diverse in appearance and ecology, ranging from the tiny '' Baiomys'' to the large '' Kunsia''. They represent one of the few example ...
). Some authorities place the subfamily Arvicolinae in the family
Muridae
The Muridae, or murids, are either the largest or second-largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 870 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia.
...
along with all other members of the superfamily
Muroidea
The Muroidea are a large Taxonomic rank, superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, Gerbillinae, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitat ...
. Some refer to the subfamily as the Microtinae (yielding the adjective "microtine") or rank the taxon as a full
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
, the Arvicolidae.
The Arvicolinae are the most populous group of
Rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
ia in the Northern Hemisphere. They often are found in fossil occlusions of bones cached by past predators such as owls and other birds of prey. Fossils of this group are often used for biostratigraphic dating of paleontological and archeological sites in North America and Europe.
Description
The most convenient distinguishing feature of the Arvicolinae is the nature of their molar teeth, which have prismatic cusps in the shape of alternating triangles. These molars are an adaptation to a
herbivorous
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...
diet in which the major food plants include a large proportion of abrasive materials such as
phytolith
Phytoliths (from Greek language, Greek, "plant stone") are rigid, microscopic mineral deposits found in some plant tissues, often persisting after the decay of the plant. Although some use "phytolith" to refer to all mineral secretions by plants, ...
s; the teeth get worn down by abrasion throughout the adult life of the animal and they grow continuously in compensation.
Arvicolinae are
Holarctic
The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...
in distribution and represent one of only a few major
muroid
The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except ...
radiations to reach the
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
via
Beringia
Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 70th parallel north, 72° north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south ...
. (The others are the three subfamilies of
New World rats and mice
The New World rats and mice are a group of related rodents found in North and South America. They are extremely diverse in appearance and ecology, ranging from the tiny '' Baiomys'' to the large '' Kunsia''. They represent one of the few example ...
.) Arvicolines do very well in the subnival zone beneath the winter snowpack, and persist throughout winter without needing to hibernate. They are also characterized by extreme fluctuations in population numbers.
Most arvicolines are small, furry, short-tailed
vole
Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...
s or
lemming
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also inclu ...
s, but some, such as ''
Ellobius
''Ellobius'' is a genus of rodents in the family Cricetidae. It contains two ('' E. talpinus'' and '' E. tancrei'') of the handful of examples of mammal species that have lost the Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes i ...
fossorial
A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamand ...
lifestyle. Others, such as '' Ondatra'', '' Neofiber'', and '' Arvicola'', have evolved larger body sizes and are associated with an aquatic lifestyle.
Phylogeny
The
phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...
of the Arvicolinae has been studied using morphological and molecular characters. Markers for the molecular phylogeny of arvicolines included the
mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...
nuclear gene
A nuclear gene is a gene whose DNA sequence is located within the cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. These genes are distinguished from extranuclear genes, such as those found in the genomes of mitochondria and chloroplasts, which reside ou ...
s display several informative sites in third
codon
Genetic code is a set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material (DNA or RNA sequences of nucleotide triplets or codons) into proteins. Translation is accomplished by the ribosome, which links prote ...
positions that evolve rapidly enough to accumulate
synapomorphies
In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to ...
, but slow enough to avoid evolutionary noise.
Of note, mitochondrial pseudogenes translocated within the nuclear genome complicate the assessment of the mitochondrial DNA orthology, but they can also be used as phylogenetic markers.
Sequencing complete mitochondrial genomes of voles may help to distinguish between authentic genes and pseudogenes.
The complementary phylogenetic analysis of morphological and molecular characters
suggests:
* ''
Ellobius
''Ellobius'' is a genus of rodents in the family Cricetidae. It contains two ('' E. talpinus'' and '' E. tancrei'') of the handful of examples of mammal species that have lost the Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes i ...
'', '' Prometheomys'', and '' Lagurus'' are among the most basal arvicolines.
* '' Dicrostonyx'', '' Phenacomys'', and '' Arborimus'' may form a clade.
* Core arvicolines include four subclades:
** Lemmini: ''Synaptomys'', ''Lemmus'', ''Myopus''
** Myodini: ''Eothenomys'', ''Myodes''
** Arvicolini: ''Arvicola''
** Microtini: ''Alexandromys'', ''Chionomys'', ''Hyperacrius'', ''Lasiopodomys'', ''Lemmiscus'', ''Microtus'', ''Mictomicrotus'', ''Neodon'', ''Proedromys'', ''Stenocranius'', ''Volemys''
* '' Ondatra'' and '' Dinaromys'' positions are uncertain, probably compromised by the
convergent evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...
of morphological characters.
Some authorities have placed the
zokor
Zokors are Asia, Asiatic burrowing rodents resembling Spalacidae, mole-rats. They include two genera: ''Myospalax'' and ''Eospalax''. Zokors are native to much of China, Kazakhstan, and Siberia, Siberian Russia.
Traditionally, zokors were though ...
s within the Arvicolinae, but they have been shown to be unrelated.
A 2021 study found Lemmini to be the most basal group of Arvicolinae. The study also found '' Arvicola'' to actually fall outside the tribe Arvicolini, and to be sister to the tribe Lagurini.
Classification
Subfamily Arvicolinae -
vole
Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...
s,
lemming
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also inclu ...
s,
muskrat
The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America.
The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...
s
The subfamily Arvicolinae contains eleven tribes, eight of which are classified as voles, two as lemmings, and one as muskrats. Recent changes to the subfamily include disbanding genus '' Myodes'' in favor of genera '' Clethrionomys'' and ''
Craseomys
''Craseomys'' is a genus of small, slender voles.
The complete list of species is:
* Anderson's red-backed vole, ''C. andersoni''
*Imaizumi's red-backed vole, ''C. imaizumii''
* Korean red-backed vole, ''C. regulus''
* Hokkaido red-backed vole, ...
Phenacomyini
Phenacomyini is a Tribe (biology), tribe of Vole, voles in the subfamily Arvicolinae. It contains five species in two genera, all of which are found in North America.
Species in this tribe are:
* Genus ''Arborimus'' - tree voles
** White-footed ...
Alexandromys
''Alexandromys'' is a genus of voles in the subfamily Arvicolinae, formerly a subgenus of the genus ''Microtus
''Microtus'' is a genus of voles found in North America, Europe and northern Asia. The genus name refers to the small ears of these ...
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
Microtus
''Microtus'' is a genus of voles found in North America, Europe and northern Asia. The genus name refers to the small ears of these animals. They are stout rodents with short ears, legs and tails. They eat green vegetation such as grasses and se ...
Anatolian vole
The Anatolian vole (''Microtus anatolicus'') is a species of vole found in Turkey, specifically Konya Province. The population is unknown but it lives in small colonies. The species exists in an area that is a remnant zone of Tethys Ocean, and ...
, ''M. anatolicus''
****
Common vole
The common vole (''Microtus arvalis'') is a European rodent.
Distribution and habitat
The common vole is hardly restricted in means of distribution and habitat and inhabits large areas of Eurasia but, apart from the Orkney vole, not the Br ...
, ''M. arvalis''
****
Cabrera's vole
Cabrera's vole (''Microtus cabrerae'') is a species of vole native to Spain and Portugal. It is named for Ángel Cabrera, a mammalogist then working at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid. It is the only living member of the sub ...
, ''M. cabrerae''
****
Doğramaci's vole
Doğramaci's vole (''Microtus dogramacii'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Iran, and probably Iraq and Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levan ...
Tien Shan vole
The Tien Shan vole (''Microtus ilaeus'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by K ...
, ''M. ilaeus''
**** Persian vole, ''M. irani''
****
Mediterranean field vole
The short-tailed field vole, short-tailed vole, or simply field vole (''Microtus agrestis'') is a grey-brown vole, around 10 cm in length, with a short tail. It is one of the most common mammals in Europe, with a range extending from the At ...
Portuguese field vole
The short-tailed field vole, short-tailed vole, or simply field vole (''Microtus agrestis'') is a grey-brown vole, around 10 cm in length, with a short tail. It is one of the most common mammals in Europe, with a range extending from the At ...
Afghan vole
The Afghan vole (''Microtus afghanus'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in south-central Asia.
Characteristics
The Afghan vole has a small, stocky body, a blunt, rounded muzzle and rounded ears. The colour varies a ...
Juniper vole
The juniper vole (''Microtus yuldaschi'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.
It is found in Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and Tajikistan. It was formerly classified in the genus '' Neodon'', but genetic evidence indicates that it is ...
Montane vole
The montane vole (''Microtus montanus'') is a species of vole native to the western United States and Canada.
Description
Montane voles are medium-sized voles, with a total length of , including the tail. Adults typically weigh anything from , ...
Eastern meadow vole
The eastern meadow vole (''Microtus pennsylvanicus''), sometimes called the field mouse or meadow mouse, is a North American vole found in eastern Canada and the United States. Its range extends farther south along the Atlantic coast.
The weste ...
Prairie vole
The prairie vole (''Microtus ochrogaster'') is a small vole found in central North America.
Description
The vole has long, coarse grayish-brown fur on the upper portion of the body and yellowish fur on the lower portion of the body. It has sh ...
, ''M. ochrogaster''
*** Subgenus ''
Hyrcanicola
Schelkovnikov's pine vole (''Microtus schelkovnikovi'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in Azerbaijan and Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in W ...
''
****
Schelkovnikov's pine vole
Schelkovnikov's pine vole (''Microtus schelkovnikovi'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in Azerbaijan and Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in W ...
, ''M. schelkovnikovi''
** Genus '' Mictomicrotus''
*** Liangshan vole, ''Mictomicrotus liangshanensis''
** Genus ''
Neodon
''Neodon'' is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae. Species within ''Neodon'' are classified as relics of the Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), ep ...
Plateau vole
The plateau vole (''Neodon fuscus'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It was originally listed as ''Lasiopodomys'', but was moved to '' Neodon'' in 2012.
It is found only in China.
Its natural habitat is temperate grassland
A ...
Dicrostonychini
Dicrostonychini is a tribe of lemmings in the subfamily Arvicolinae. It contains only one extant genus, as well as one extinct genus.
A 2021 study found Dicrostonychini to also include the genera previously placed in the tribe Phenacomyini, and ...
Northern collared lemming
The northern collared lemming or Nearctic collared lemming (''Dicrostonyx groenlandicus''), sometimes called the Peary Land collared lemming in Canada, is a small lemming found in Arctic North America and Wrangel Island. At one time, it was cons ...
, ''D. groenlandicus''
***
Nelson's collared lemming
Nelson's collared lemming (''Dicrostonyx nelsoni'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.
It is found in western and southwestern Alaska in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States ( ...
, ''D. nelsoni''
***
Ungava collared lemming
The Ungava collared lemming or Labrador collared lemming (''Dicrostonyx hudsonius'') is a small North American lemming.
This species has a short, chunky body covered with brownish-grey fur, with a thin dark stripe along the back and a yellow lin ...
, ''D. hudsonius''
***
Ogilvie Mountains collared lemming
The Ogilvie Mountains collared lemming (''Dicrostonyx nunatakensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.
It is found only in Yukon Territory, Canada.Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. (2005). Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894-1531 ''in' ...
, ''D. nunatakensis''
***
Richardson's collared lemming
The Richardson's collared lemming (''Dicrostonyx richardsoni'') is a small North American lemming. At one time, they were considered to be a subspecies of the Arctic lemming, ''Dicrostonyx torquatus''. Some sources believe they are a subspecies o ...
, ''D. richardsoni''
***
Arctic lemming
The Arctic lemming (''Dicrostonyx torquatus'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.
Although generally classified as a "least concern" species, the Novaya Zemlya subspecies ''(Dicrostonyx torquatus ungulatus)'' is considered a vulne ...
, ''D. torquatus''
***
Unalaska collared lemming
The Unalaska collared lemming (''Dicrostonyx unalascensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.
This species is found on two islands, Umnak and Unalaska, in the Aleutian Archipelago of Alaska in the United States.
Its natural hab ...
, ''D. unalascensis''
* Tribe
Ellobiusini
Ellobiusini is a tribe (taxonomy), tribe of voles containing two genera: ''Ellobius'' and ''Bramus''. All extant taxon, extant taxa in this tribe were formerly included in the genus ''Ellobius''. These species are distinguishable from most other ...
- mole voles
** Genus ''
Ellobius
''Ellobius'' is a genus of rodents in the family Cricetidae. It contains two ('' E. talpinus'' and '' E. tancrei'') of the handful of examples of mammal species that have lost the Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes i ...
Southern mole vole
The southern mole vole (''Bramus fuscocapillus'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.
It is found in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan.
Chromosomes
Southern mole voles are the only member of ''Ellobiusini
Ellobiusini ...
Alticola
''Alticola'' is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over ...
'' - voles from
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
Lemming vole
The lemming vole (''Alticola lemminus'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found only in the Russian Federation
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of ...
Eothenomys
''Eothenomys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It contains the following species:
* Kachin red-backed vole (''Eothenomys cachinus'')
* Pratt's vole (''Eothenomys chinensis'')
* Southwest China vole (''Eothenomys custos'')
* Pè ...
'' - voles from
East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
Chaotung vole
The Chaotung vole (''Eothenomys olitor''), also known as the black-eared red-backed vole, is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found only in Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou provinces of south-central China
China, officiall ...
Craseomys
''Craseomys'' is a genus of small, slender voles.
The complete list of species is:
* Anderson's red-backed vole, ''C. andersoni''
*Imaizumi's red-backed vole, ''C. imaizumii''
* Korean red-backed vole, ''C. regulus''
* Hokkaido red-backed vole, ...
Imaizumi's red-backed vole
Imaizumi's red-backed vole (''Craseomys imaizumii'') is a species of vole in the family Cricetidae
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats ...
Shansei vole
The Shansei vole (''Craseomys shanseius'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found only in north-central China where its habitat is forests.
Taxonomy
The Shansei vole was first described in 1908 as ''Myodes shanseius'' by th ...
, ''C. shanseius''
***
Smith's vole
Smith's vole (''Craseomys smithii'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is also known as Smith's red-backed vole and is found only in Japan.
This vole is named after Richard Gordon Smith, (1858–1918) who, after falling out wit ...
Bank vole
The bank vole (''Clethrionomys glareolus'') is a small vole with red-brown fur and some grey patches, with a tail about half as long as its body. A rodent, it lives in woodland areas and is around in length. The bank vole is found in much of Eu ...
Ondatrini
Ondatrini is a tribe of semiaquatic rodents in the family Arvicolinae. They are known as muskrats. They are related to voles and lemmings.
Classification
It contains two extant species, each in their own genus, both of which are native to ...
Round-tailed muskrat
The round-tailed muskrat (''Neofiber alleni'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae, sometimes called the Florida water rat.Ondatra''
***
Muskrat
The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America.
The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...
Balkan snow vole
The Balkan snow vole (''Dinaromys bogdanovi''), also known as Martino's snow vole, is the only living member of the genus ''Dinaromys''. The genus name means "Dinaric mouse", referring to the Dinaric Alps, as the species is endemic to the wester ...
Long-clawed mole vole
The long-clawed mole vole (''Prometheomys schaposchnikowi'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Prometheomys''.
It is found in Georgia (country), Georgia, Russia, and Turkey.
...
Dicrostonychini
Dicrostonychini is a tribe of lemmings in the subfamily Arvicolinae. It contains only one extant genus, as well as one extinct genus.
A 2021 study found Dicrostonychini to also include the genera previously placed in the tribe Phenacomyini, and ...
- collared lemmings
** Genus ''
Predicrostonyx
''Predicrostonyx hopkinsi'' is an extinct rodent in the family Cricetidae, and is considered one of the earliest examples of collared lemming
''Dicrostonyx'' is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It contains the collared lemmings or ...
Pliomys
''Pliomys'' is an extinct genus of voles, subfamily Arvicolinae, tribe Pliomyini.Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wi ...
'' † (extinct c. 12,000 years ago)
See also
*
Hantavirus
''Orthohantavirus'' is a genus of viruses that includes all hantaviruses (family ''Hantaviridae'') that cause disease in humans. Orthohantaviruses, hereafter referred to as hantaviruses, are naturally found primarily in rodents. In general, each ...